Lin Feng took a deep breath, his finger hovering over the option named [Guitar Dao (Mortal Stage)].
As a senior web novel reader, he was full of anticipation for this moment. According to the trope, the instant one selects a "Dao Path," there should at least be some phenomenon of heaven and earth, right? Like the dantian heating up, the Ren and Du meridians instantly connecting, or the sound of the Great Dao's Sanskrit chanting ringing in the mind. At the very least, his fingertip should emit some golden light.
"I choose Guitar Dao."
He solemnly chanted in his heart and pressed down.
...
One second passed.
Three seconds passed.
Outside the window, the cicadas remained noisy, and the sound of his roommate tapping the keyboard remained a crackling clatter. Lin Feng looked down at his hand; it neither emitted light nor mutated. Even the mosquito bite from earlier was still itching.
"Just this?" Lin Feng was somewhat disappointed. "At least give a newbie special effect."
However, when he looked at the interface again, the originally empty list suddenly unfolded, and densely packed tasks brushed out like a waterfall.
[Fretting Practice (0/48h)] —— Reward: Fret Mastery (Bronze)
[Basic Strumming (0/48h)] —— Reward: Strumming Synchronization (Bronze)
[Open Chord Special Training (0/48h)] —— Reward: Chord Muscle Memory (Bronze)
[Finger Expansion Exercise (0/24h)] —— Reward: Finger Flexibility (Bronze)
[Single String Scale Grid-Climbing (0/36h)] —— Reward: Scale Perception (Bronze)
[Rhythm Strike Practice (0/24h)] —— Reward: Rhythm Sense (Bronze)
[Fingerstyle Basics (0/48h)] —— Reward: Finger Coordination (Bronze)
[Alternate Picking Basics (0/36h)] —— Reward: Picking Precision (Bronze)
[Simple Melody Playback (0/48h)] —— Reward: Melody Recognition (Bronze)
[Comprehensive Practice (0/12h)] —— Reward: Callus Generation (Bronze)
Looking at this long list, Lin Feng was stunned. Immediately after, a sense of relief he had never felt before surged into his heart.
No "Thank you for your patronage."
No pitfall probabilities.
No damn roulette wheels.
It was written here clearly and plainly: As long as you grind, I will give.
"This is correct." Lin Feng felt his eye sockets getting a little moist. "This is the system a non-Chief[1] ought to have. Thank the Heavens, thank Big Data, thank you for the grace of not killing me."
Compared to that ethereal, misty "one shot enters the soul[2]", this solid feeling of "plant melons, get melons[3]" made this honest man so moved he wanted to cry.
...
Time was like flowing sand between the fingers; in the blink of an eye, five weeks passed.
During this period, a new legend was born in a certain corner of Jiangcheng University—not some rock superstar, but a "tireless grid-climbing machine."
Lin Feng lived the life of an ascetic monk. Aside from attending class and sleeping, all remaining time was spent in the rehearsal room or the dormitory hallway.
He not only had to conquer those long "Guitar Dao" tasks but also conveniently complete the daily tasks that refreshed every day.
Of course, the rewards for the daily tasks remained very stable and touching.
[Congratulations obtained: Thank you for your patronage.]
[Congratulations obtained: Thank you for your patronage.]
[Congratulations obtained: Coca-Cola (Large Bottle) x1 (Effect: Restores 10 Stamina after drinking).]
Lin Feng's space under the bed was already stuffed full of Cola, but he was not discouraged.
He had self-knowledge. Before this, his guitar practice was always three days fishing, two days drying nets[4]. A large reason was that he could not feel any progress. For a person of mediocre aptitude, practicing was like washing clothes in a dark room; you didn't know if they were washed clean or not.
But now, the system had turned on the light.
Although [Fretting Practice] required boring repetition for 48 hours, and although during this period he felt like a repeater machine with no emotion, watching that progress bar move little by little from 0% to 100%, that pleasure of certain, inevitable strengthening was enough to support him through every late night.
Under five weeks of devilish training, he had thoroughly secured the position of the band's lead guitarist. Although Ren Yichen would occasionally still roast him, saying he played guitar like he was doing math problems, lacking a bit of "soul," at least the pitch was accurate, and the beat was steady.
As for interpersonal relationships, there were also new changes.
The crisis of "Shen Linyin's favorability exploding the charts" that Lin Feng had been worried about was finally resolved after he reached 30 favorability.
It turned out that Bronze Level padlocks had an upper limit. It could lock so it wouldn't decrease ever, but that "forced only rise no fall" BUFF became invalid after favorability reached 30 points (Good Friend).
In other words, now that Shen Linyin's favorability toward him had risen to 30, if he did something stupid, the favorability would drop, but it would just get stuck when it fell to 30; they wouldn't become strangers or enemies.
This made Lin Feng breathe a huge sigh of relief.
The current Shen Linyin had a very easygoing attitude toward him. During rehearsal breaks, she would hand him a bottle of water and occasionally crack a joke or two, completely controlling this layer of relationship within the safe and comfortable zone of "boyfriend's good brother."
30 points, just right. One point more would be suspected of ambiguity; one point less would be too distant.
Lin Feng was very satisfied.
However, when he cast his gaze toward the bassist in the corner, this sense of achievement would be slightly discounted.
[Lu Mingxuan: 15/100 (Nodding Acquaintance)]
Five weeks.
A full five weeks of being together from morning to night, rehearsing together, eating takeout together; Lin Feng even shared several bottles of Cola drawn from the system with him.
The result was that this brother's favorability only rose by 1 point.
Lin Feng looked at Lu Mingxuan, who was holding the bass as if he were an old monk entering samadhi, and respect rose solemnly in his heart.
Is this the legendary "Obsidian Mentality"? Even if the sky collapses, even if a teammate suddenly turns into the God of Guitar, even if it's the end of the world, this man's heart remains without ripples, only wanting to finish rehearsal quickly and go back to sleep.
"Perhaps," Lin Feng plucked a guitar string, looking at the progress bar for [Comprehensive Practice] in his field of vision that was about to fill up, thinking secretly in his heart, "only until the day I truly light up all these Bronze skills can I slightly shake this stubborn stone."
Tonight, the task progress for [Fretting Practice] was 47 hours and 58 minutes.
Lin Feng took a deep breath and pressed down on the strings.
Only the last two minutes remained.
[1] As opposed to a Chief, which has good luck, a non-Chief has bad luck.
[2] Gaming slang for getting the rarest item or character on the very first try/draw.
[3] Idiom meaning you reap what you sow.
[4] An idiom describing a lack of perseverance; working sporadically.